Cannon pleads guilty to attempted murder in 2013 shootout

Man at center of Washington Countys most notorious shootout gets 10 years in prison

After 13 months in the Washington County Jail, former Hillsboro police officer Tim Cannon will soon be transferred to a state prison to serve a 10-year sentence for attempted aggravated murder.

Cannon, 47, accused in the most notorious officer-involved shooting in county history, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted aggravated murder Thursday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court, admitting to trying to kill a trio of officers who responded to a 911 call from his home on Jan. 20, 2013.

He originally was accused of attempting to kill 11 officers and assaulting his wife inside the couple's Forest Grove home after a domestic dispute spun out of control.

Lisa Cannon, a civilian employee of the Forest Grove Police Department, locked herself and the Cannon's young daughter inside an upstairs bathroom and made the emergency call that brought officers from three agencies to the scene that night. Only one officer was injured in the melee, in which more than 100 shots were fired.

The former Hillsboro police officer stood in shackles on Feb. 6 in front of Presiding Judge Kirsten E. Thompson, who listened to Cannon apologize for his actions to his family and officers who were victims in the case.

Cannon acknowledged he tried to kill Steven Slade of the Hillsboro Police Department, Austin Allen of the Washington County Sheriff's Office and Charles McCutchen of the Forest Grove Police Department. He also admitted killing his family's cat during the 81-minute standoff inside his home near Forest Grove High School.

The plea deal was negotiated between Chief Deputy District Attorney Roger Hanlon, who was prosecuting the case, and Cannon's defense attorney, Ray Bassel of Hillsboro law firm Bassel & Rawls.

It brought a sudden end to a case Lt. Mike Rouches, spokesman for Hillsboro Police, said most of his fellow officers have moved beyond. "It's tough," Rouches said Friday. "It's almost an absence of reaction. Nobody's talking about it."

Still, Rouches added, the question looms: "How do you quantify what a reasonable amount of time (in prison) is for that?"